


Fifteen-Love

by Lord_Byron_Mudkippington



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Humor, Tennis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 10:59:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15314037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lord_Byron_Mudkippington/pseuds/Lord_Byron_Mudkippington
Summary: Yoshiko joins the tennis team to impress a girl she thinks is cute.





	Fifteen-Love

**Author's Note:**

> Happy (late) birthday Yoshiko! (Posted on time elsewhere)

"So what made you decide to try out for the tennis team?" A young woman looked up from her clipboard, eyeing Yoshiko with a curious look. Yoshiko gulped and tugged on the hem of her sleeve, feeling like a cold sweat was breaking out on the back of her neck.

"Uh, well, I... think it's a really neat sport! It's good exercise, and I like being a part of a team." She curled both of her hands into fists, sure that her obvious lies were being exposed in the worst way. Almost all of it was patently untrue. She knew just about nothing when it came to sports. Sumo, baseball, tennis... She'd never bothered to watch any of it on TV. She wasn't even sure if her high school had even had any sports teams. And exercise? Forget about it. The only exercise she tended to get was with her hands on her keyboard and mouse. Though at least that 'team' part was true. As long as they counted MMO guilds as a team.

"Alright. Welcome to the team!" The woman smiled at Yoshiko, making her smile as well. She had done it! They'd allowed her onto the tennis team without any further prying. "Now, there's going to be an orientation Friday evening for the new members, so make sure you show up for that with your racket. Please sign here, and you'll be good to go!" Still smiling, Yoshiko grabbed the pen that the woman handed to her and signed her name on the dotted line.

"Thanks!" She walked away from the sign-ups pretty proud of herself. Sure, she'd have to spend money on a tennis racket: something she'd never used before. And she'd just agreed to participate in a sport she knew nothing about. But that was alright. She'd read up on it and get whatever information she needed from Google. It'd be fine. And the best thing was that the woman at the sign-ups didn't make her reveal the real, true reason she'd signed up to play tennis.

Honestly, there was someone she saw practicing tennis on the courts, and her butt in those tennis shorts was very, very fine.

* * *

Friday evening, Yoshiko sat with the handful of tennis recruits, arms folded and newly bought racket lying between her legs. She'd gone to a sporting goods store to find it, having to wander around awhile until she figured out where they were. Of course, she had no idea about the pros and cons of any individual racket, so she just bought the first one she grabbed just so she'd have one. Now she was waiting for orientation to begin so it would be over with. The quicker they got to actually playing tennis, the quicker she'd get to try and impress that one chick with the nice butt.

"Good evening, everyone! Glad you all could make it!" The woman from the sign up station was up in the front addressing them. "Now, tennis isn't a sport of brute strength. It requires a lot of grace and agility. To teach you about these fundamentals, I've asked the captain of the varsity team to talk to you all about what you've signed up for. Please make sure to give your undivided attention to You Watanabe!" Someone started clapping, and the rest of them joined in, as if it was required to clap for the captain. When she came out with a big grin and a friendly wave, Yoshiko stopped clapping. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped, staring in disbelief at the very familiar face in front of her.

"Oh god..." What were the odds that the girl with the shapely butt that she'd joined the tennis team to try and impress would be the damn varsity captain? How in the world was she ever supposed to get good enough to impress her?

"What's up, everyone? I'm You, and I'm the captain of the varsity team. It's nice to meet all of you!" Thankfully, her shocked reaction seemed to go completely unnoticed. Unfortunately, she found it hard to concentrate on anything You was saying. All she could think of was how unfortunate her luck was. This wasn't how she expected that evening to go.

"Thanks for your time. I appreciate it!" Oh crap, she'd zoned out so long that she'd missed everything You had said. "Now, if everyone could stand up and pick up their rackets, I wanna teach everyone the proper stance you should take when starting a match." If they were being taught that right now, then she couldn't have missed anything related to it. Hopefully it hadn't all been too important.

She stood up with the rest of the newcomers and followed You onto the courts, feeling tense at the thought of what they had to do. As soon as she realized that You was the captain, she knew her plans on impressing her were done. At least, in their original incarnation. There was no way an ignorant fool like herself would ever get close to You in terms of skill, no matter how much she practiced. That didn't mean there wasn't another way to impress her, though...

They were all newbies to the tennis world. Certainly none of them would be expected to be Boo right away. If she made significant improvements faster than the others, however, that might just catch the attention of the captain. That could lead to compliments, or even better: one on one training. They might even shower together. As... As fellow teammates, of course. God, she was getting out of sorts just from the thought. She had to focus. One step at a time.

The stance that You showed them was a squatting stance, one they were supposed to take while waiting for their opponent to serve. It would allow their muscles to be at the ready to reach the ball when it was served to them. Honestly, Yoshiko felt embarrassed doing it. She wondered if anyone else there felt the same way she did. Then she thought about how this stance would mean that her butt was being pushed outwards. Which meant that You's butt was being pushed outwards. She was suddenly okay with the stance now.

To her elation, she saw You going around and helping people with their stances. That meant she would come over there, and talk to her. She might even put her hands on her. Yoshiko felt a shiver go down her spine. She needed that to happen, even if it meant faking that she didn't know what she was doing. Then again, she honestly didn't know what she was doing... But even her failures could use help sometimes, so she wiggled her foot into a direction she knew was wrong. Now all she had to do was wait.

There weren't that many people there trying to join the tennis team, but it still felt like it was taking forever for You to get to her. It was actually bothering her back somewhat, so she straightened up her back just for a moment. Of course, in that moment, she turned to find where You was in relation to her. Turns out it was right next to her.

She nearly screamed as she fell back, startled by You's sudden appearance. Her arms flailed as she tried to right herself, her racket swinging in the air like she was trying to kill an insect. Those attempts at balancing were doomed to fail, and the only reason she didn't fall flat on her butt was the timely intervention of the reason she was making a fool of herself in the first place. You reached forward and grabbed Yoshiko's arm, easily pulling her back onto her feet and away from certain disaster.

"Woah there, careful! Don't wanna get hurt on your first day, do you?" Yoshiko gawked at her, unable to get herself to say anything useful, or even dignity saving. Then she heard a couple of people snickering, and her cheeks started to warm up. She finally was able to nod and stare at the ground, feeling utterly embarrassed. Now she'd not only made a fool of herself in front of You, but the rest of the newbies as well. She was off to a hell of a fine start.

"Hey, chin up. It's only your first day." You's voice had become a whisper, likely to not alert any of the others to what she was saying. She smiled at Yoshiko, which made her feel way too warm to be normal. "Why don't you get back into your stance and I'll help you out?" Yoshiko just nodded, gripping her racket tightly and shifting into the position as she remembered it.

"You should space out your feet just a little. Keep them parallel with each other." Yoshiko moved her feet as You requested, though her attention was mostly on You's hand on her shoulder. It was squeezing her like You was trying to channel good energy into her body. She wanted so badly to just straight up ask her for a date right then and there, but she also wanted to never open her mouth again ever. This was just niceties being shown to her by the captain, that's all. There wasn't anything deeper to look into than that. Oh, but how badly she wanted to...

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, You didn't get any more handsy than the one on her shoulder. Unfortunate because there was no part of her that didn't want You's hands on it. Fortunate because if that happened, she might just combust, and then it'd be game over. She'd just have to deal with being mildly disappointed, though the smile You gave her before going to help another newbie made it all worthwhile. That was a smile she wanted to brighten her every morning. Just like the ever-burning fires of Lucifer. Except she promised herself she'd stop mentioning that. Not many girls were into fallen angels, so she'd done her best to excise that quirk of hers when she started at university.

At the end of their first meeting, they hadn't learned anything but that squatting position, but that seemed to be fine. Monday evening was scheduled to be their first real practice session, where they'd mingle with other newer players. They were the ones who weren't brand new, but were still relatively new to the tennis team, so it was supposed to be a way to integrate with some of the other members. Socializing wasn't really Yoshiko's style, but she'd do it. Though it'd be nice if You was gonna be there too... But she wouldn't be. She wasn't one of the newer members, obviously. There'd be no point for her to be there.

She resolved to not let herself be brought down by that, though. Eventually she'd get her chance. She'd be on the court with You, and she'd impress her with how much she had improved. There'd be lots of "Impressive!"s and "Good job!"s, and she'd get to see that dazzling smile again. And then they'd go out for a congratulatory dinner- Wait. One step at a time. She had to actually improve before she could impress You with that improvement.

With that all settled, she felt reasonably confident that this was something she could do. It was all mind over matter. That's what she'd heard somewhere once. If she believed in herself, she could achieve anything she wanted to. She could become a great tennis player, even if she still didn't understand why one point equaled fifteen points. That didn't matter. Before this year was done, she was going to be able to call You her girlfriend. She was sure of it!

Smiling to herself, she stood on the court for nearly two minutes after the meeting was over, staring at You's butt as she walked away.

* * *

Practice was an absolute drag. Yoshiko groaned as she flopped down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her tennis racket laid on the floor, dropped from tired hands at the foot of her bed. She'd just finished only her third practice, and already she was questioning if any butt, no matter how finely shaped it was, was worth all this... this exercise. Nothing in her life of video game streaming and bad nutrition choices had prepared her for all of this movement. She'd even had to ditch her tennis outfit before jumping into bed, since it had soaked up more sweat than she'd ever thought possible. The worst thing was that barely anybody else seemed to be exerting that much energy during practices. It was just her.

She sighed and ran a hand over her face. Even among the other complete newbies, she felt like she was at the very bottom. There was no way she was going to impress You with her skills at present. It didn't seem likely that she'd even improve enough to catch the captain's attention. Maybe she should just quit. It made her feel bad that she was already thinking of quitting something after just a week, but why continue to waste her time if she couldn't ever reach her thirst-driven goals? She could put more time into her streaming. Twitch streamer was a good job, right? Fortnite never made her feel this exhausted.

Deciding to delay her decision for a little bit longer, she put on some comfortable, sweat-free clothing and sat down in front of her TV. She streamed herself playing Mario Tennis for the next two hours, hoping that playing any form of tennis game would transfer some amount of skill into her. By the end of her session, she didn't feel any better at the sport. She'd probably have to actually go play to figure that out, though.

After shutting down her stream, she flopped down on her back and resumed staring at her ceiling. Somehow, playing video games hadn't given her any direction on her real life issues. Who would've guessed? She sighed and covered her face with her hands, trying to find some sort of focus within the darkness of her soul. No, wait, she was going to stop that. The darkness of her... mind? No, that didn't work either.

She was gonna quit. It was for the best. She wasn't a tennis player. Going up several flights of stairs exhausted her, so how was she supposed to compete in any matches with other girls who had their sights on actually being athletes? Besides, when it came to You, who was she kidding? A good looking, in shape sports captain was nowhere close to being in her league. She'd just be that weird NEET girl on the outside looking in as You was going on several dates at the same time. Yeah, she was gonna quit.

It would've been easier to quit via email or a text message, but she didn't have any contact info for anybody involved on the team. That didn't make her lacking social skills look any better. So she sucked it up, stuck her hands in her pockets, and left her dorm room to head down to the tennis courts. It wasn't dark yet, so she was sure that one of the teachers would still be there. At least she hadn't told her mom she'd joined the team yet, so she wouldn't be let down when she heard her daughter was a quitter.

She trudged her way to the courts, figuring that one of the teachers would be in the office and could accept her resignation. As she got closer, she could hear the sound of grunting and a ball hitting off a racket. There must've been a couple people down there practicing. They clearly had more drive than she did. Hopefully she could avoid them and get into the office without any probing questions.

As it turned out, it wasn't a couple of people. It was just one person playing tennis with themselves. That would seem impossible, or at least unbelievably tiring, but the team actually had a wall on wheels that could be rolled out and used for handball-style practice. And of course, the person practicing there was You. Who else would it have been? Literally anyone else? Not with her luck.

There was no way she could quit when her crush was nearby, so she just silently stood by the fence and watched for a bit. The way You moved around and served the ball looked so fluid, even with a wall as her opponent. Though she still wasn't fully familiar with the game and its intricacies, she could just feel that there was something special about You. She clearly knew what she was doing, and it was impressive even to a novice like herself.

She clutched the chain link fence, wishing that she wasn't preparing to quit. It just wasn't going to work, though. She had deluded herself into thinking she could learn something on the fly just to mack on some chick. What a stupid idea. She was still going to quit, but she'd have to wait until tomorrow, when hopefully You wouldn't be there. And of course You decided that right then was the time to pick up her tennis ball and turn around.

"Oh hey!" You waved at Yoshiko, who promptly froze. There was no escape now. "You're the girl who nearly fell over at our stance practice!" No matter how much she wanted to. Yoshiko groaned and let go of the fence, feeling her cheeks starting to heat up. She was about to think 'How could this get any worse?', but she knew the moment she thought that, the fence would fall on her or something.

"Uh, yeah. And you're the captain, right? I was, uh... hoping you'd forget that."

"Naw, got a steel trap when it comes to memory." You laughed and playfully knocked on her head with a fist. She started to walk over to the fence, where Yoshiko couldn't get her feet to start moving all the way back to her dorm. "You here to get in some practicing?" She then looked at Yoshiko's hands, noticing the distinct lack of a racket. "Hmm, but you don't have your racket..."

"I, uh... I came out here so fast that I forgot it." She laughed nervously, hoping that You wouldn't catch her in a complete lie. If she wasn't in the middle of making a fool of herself, she'd probably start wondering about how worthwhile trying to get into a relationship was when it involved constant, seemingly never-ending lies. Since she was busy with the aforementioned foolishness, it would be a lesson she'd have to learn later. If ever.

"Oh. Well, no matter! I've got an extra one you can use!" Of course she did. So she came down there to quit, and instead she was going to be playing tennis with Captain Crush over here. This was either the best luck or the worst luck. Maybe it was both. The... bwerst luck. There was no getting out of it now, no matter what kind of luck it was. She'd talked herself right into a corner. Buffoonery, thy name was Yoshiko.

Resigned to her fate, Yoshiko let go of the fence and walked around it until she reached the door. She flipped open the hatch and pushed the door open, walking inside and towards You. This was giving her crises for days. The closer she got, the more she could tell that You was stupidly good looking. What a smile... and what arm muscles. It looked like, if she decided to just put her all into a swing, the ball would fly all the way to Hokkaido. She looked like a living incarnation of some naturally attractive hero from the video games she played.

"Here ya go!" She offered Yoshiko the racket she'd been using, which Yoshiko took with only slightly trembling hands. "I'll go grab my backup!" While she went to get that, Yoshiko just stared blankly at the racket in her hand. This had just been used by You. Gripped by those strong hands. It might even smell like her... Okay, she was drifting into some weird territory. She needed to back, back, back it up.

When You came back with her backup racket, Yoshiko tried to smile and pretend she hadn't gone off on a weird mental tangent. She probably looked insane, but You didn't say anything. "Alright, so I've noticed during practice that you've been having trouble following through on trick shots." While she spoke, she moved the wall out of the way. "It's good that you're paying attention to what your opponent is doing, but you're allowing yourself to be fooled into heading in the wrong direction. Here, go to the other side of the net and I'll show you."

"Okay..." Yoshiko gripped the racket tighter as she went around to the other side of the net. How did You know she'd been having that problem? She'd only been practicing with her fellow newcomers. She hadn't even seen You there, and if she'd been there, Yoshiko would've certainly known it. Had she gotten reports on the other members of the team because she was the captain? Why would she care about how those beneath her were doing, though?

"Alright, now let's just start with a simple back and forth serving. Don't worry about watching me for any sneaky moves." It was kind of hard to not watch You, but she'd do her best. They began a simple back and forth serve, which Yoshiko surprisingly didn't fail spectacularly. It wasn't easy, since she had to put in extra effort to make sure she was doing even the simplest things correctly, but she was able to return each serve competently.

"Okay, now I'm going to try and trick you with the direction I'll be shooting. I won't tell you when, but don't let yourself be dragged too far out of position. Always be on your guard!" It was impressive how You was able to give directions and not miss a shot. Yoshiko was sure that if she opened her mouth, that tennis ball would end up in it. So she decided it was best not to answer. Instead, she gripped her racket tighter and watched You for any clues about what she was going to do.

For nearly a minute, they just kept serving back and forth like before, making Yoshiko wonder just when You was going to make the move. She was drifting to the left to receive one of You's shots when it finally happened. Suddenly, You pivoted her shot and sent it searing across the right. Though Yoshiko tried to back up and reach it, she was just too far from it. It bounced out of reach, giving You the points.

"You're drifting again, Yoshiko. You assumed I'd shoot it to the left, so I was able to best you on the right." You walked up to the net and smiled as Yoshiko shamefully went to retrieve the ball. She was embarrassed that she'd been shown up like that, even if she'd already told herself that You was miles ahead of her in skill. It made her feel like a child, though You's tone wasn't chiding or disappointed. "What you want to do is stay more towards the middle so that you can better reach both sides of the court. You'll also want to quicken your pivot, just in case a shot is perfectly placed in one of the corners. Then you'll be better positioned to dash towards it."

It was tough to unlearn it. She couldn't help but to start drifting to try and meet the serve she was sure You was going to make. However, she'd keep getting fooled and end up tripping over her own feet trying to rectify her mistake. It was humiliating for her, but You seemed determined to help her break the habit. They practiced together for an hour, and though Yoshiko would still make the same mistakes, she was starting to get better at planting herself in the middle and forcing herself to not run off and get tricked.

"Well, I'd say that's an improvement." You laughed as she rested her racket on her shoulder. Yoshiko had actually been able to deflect her trick shot, but was undone when You slammed her return into a perfect corner situation. Still, You seemed satisfied by Yoshiko's progress. "As long as you keep at it, you'll break that habit of yours completely. I'm sure of it!"

"You... really think so?" Yoshiko held the ball in one hand and the racket in the other. She was utterly exhausted, but she tried her best not to collapse onto the ground and try to get extra air into her lungs. That certainly wouldn't be a good look. "It's just tough to not do it..." While she was nearly hunched over in exhaustion, You still looked like she could go another match. There was sweat evident on her forehead and arms, but she still seemed to have a ton of energy.

"I understand. Habits are really tough to break." You placed a hand on Yoshiko's shoulder and smiled reassuringly at her. "When I first started playing tennis, I was always super excitable and I'd always hit the ball as hard as I could. I would knock the ball out of bounds almost every time, but I was so sure that what I was doing was how to play. They couldn't return my serve if it was hit that hard."

"How did you stop doing that, then?" She was surprised to hear that You ever had problems playing tennis. Honestly, she'd just thought You had come out of the womb with a silver racket in her tiny fist.

"I kept practicing. It was tough, but I had to look myself in the mirror and tell myself that I needed to hit with more precision and less power. It took a lot of practice, but I was able to overcome my penchant for power, and it's helped me get to where I am today. So I know that you can do it too!" She really did seem a lot more sure of Yoshiko's potential than Yoshiko herself did. How was she supposed to disagree with such a wonderful smile, though?

"Well, uh, thanks for helping me. With, with practice and all." Talking with a crush was not an easy task. Whoever was able to do it without looking like a fool were clearly witches and needed to be dealt with as such.

"No problem! Always happy to help my fellow tennis sister in need." She ruffled Yoshiko's hair, laughing when Yoshiko ducked down on instinct. "Alright, I'm gonna head to the cafeteria now. I'll see ya 'round, 'kay?"

"Yeah, uh... see ya, You." They waved at each other, then You turned and walked off the court, leaving Yoshiko standing there alone... with You's racket. "Wait, You!" She ran over to the fence, shouting for You before she could get out of earshot. "You forgot your racket!" She waved it back and forth like You needed visual confirmation that it existed.

"Oh, don't worry about it! I'll get it back from you some other time!" She waved again and kept walking, leaving Yoshiko dumbfounded. Why didn't You want her racket back? It wasn't even her backup: that had been what You used. It was her regular, tournament-ready racket, and she didn't want it back? Why? Yoshiko stared at it as if it would hold the answers she sought, turning it over in her hands. No answers came to her, but she sure felt stupid standing there doing that.

Eventually she left the court as well. Halfway to her dorm, she remembered that she had gone there to quit tennis, but now she didn't feel like she could. If she did, then You would find out, and she'd certainly be disappointed then. She'd probably feel that hour of practice was a waste, and she could've been doing something better with her life. Again, Yoshiko had run herself right into a corner. There was no way she could quit now.

Sighing, she just kept walking back to her dorm. She should've just stayed home and become a professional NEET or something.

* * *

Sometimes she'd just lay down on her bed and hold You's racket above her, examining it in the vain hope that the skill inside of it would magically transfer itself into her body. Other times she'd stare up at the ceiling and try to answer all of the questions she had about You. She wasn't able to pin down any concrete answers, though. Why did You let her borrow a racket that likely meant something to her? How did You know her tennis flaws if they had never practiced together beforehand? It just didn't make any sense to her.

It'd be so much easier if she had friends to use as a soundboard, or at least to vent at over her confusing feelings. These were embarrassing feelings, though, so even if she had friends, she'd probably say nothing regardless. This was probably what the school guidance counselor was for, and yet it probably wasn't. That person was there for actual issues, not sudden college crushes.

She was damn close to throwing a mini-tantrum at times. How was she supposed to work through these feelings if she didn't have anyone to talk to about them? And if she did have someone to talk to about them, how could she say these things out loud? Maybe she needed to go online and talk to someone there. This would be quite an interesting topic to mention at a guild meeting.

Instead of doing any of that, she spent the next week saying nothing. Like usual, she kept it all to herself and tried to pretend things were normal. And for the most part, they were. Practice was about the same as usual, though her skills were surprisingly getting a bit better. Not enough to make her feel like she could crow about her athletic prowess, but enough that she didn't feel completely embarrassed every time she stepped on the court.

She didn't see You, though. In a way, she was glad. If she'd seen You on the sidelines watching her, she'd surely mess up and make herself look stupid. She wasn't even using You's racket because she was worried she'd break it. It was left in her closet for safekeeping. Occasionally she would look around to see if You was watching her in secret, but she never got a glimpse of her. Maybe she just secretly hoped that You was watching her from a safe distance and was proud of her improvements.

Exactly one week from the day she practiced with You, she went down to the courts again. This time she had You's racket with her, in the hopes that You would be there again. There was no guarantee that would be the case, but she wanted to try. 'Randomly' meeting with You at the courts was the only way she felt comfortable being near her crush.

Lo and behold, as she got closer to the courts, she could see You practicing by herself just like before. Her heart started to beat faster as she restrained herself from running towards the courts. The last thing she wanted to appear as was desperate. As she wandered around the fence, she wondered when You would notice her.

"Yoshiko! Hey! Long time no see!" Not long, as it turned out. She hadn't even turned the corner before You started to shout and wave at her. Shyly waving back, she continued on until she entered the courts and started to walk over to where You was. As energetic as ever, You met her halfway with a big smile. "Back for more practice? That's the spirit!"

"Yeah. I didn't know you'd be here too." That wasn't a lie, but she had certainly hoped that she'd be there. "I don't mean to interrupt your own practice."

"Oh no, I welcome it! It's certainly more of a challenge than facing a wall." They both laughed, though Yoshiko wasn't sure that she was a bigger challenge than something that stood still and just let balls bounce off it. Even so, if You wanted to face her instead, she'd be the best damn wall replacement possible. "You feeling more confident on the courts now?"

"Yeah, I am." A partial truth. She was sort of confident, but definitely not confident at all, if that made any sense. "That practice we did was helpful, so I... appreciate it, you know?"

"I'm glad I could help!" You put two fingers to her forehead in a salute, grinning wide. "I'd be happy to give you more pointers if you wanted." She certainly did want those pointers, but mostly so that she had an excuse to be near You. "Alright, let's just move the wall and we'll get started!"

Once the wall was out of the way, they spent another hour practicing. Some of that time was spent rehashing the previous week's work, with You giving useful hints whenever there'd be a break in play. Surprisingly, at least to Yoshiko, she was actually getting even better at not being fooled by You's trick shots. That didn't mean she was anywhere near You's level, as she never once was able to score a point on her. Even when she was really trying to.

That didn't matter as much, though. At least she wasn't embarrassing herself. Plus, she got to spend another hour with You. That helped assuage any frustration from losing every set, even though they weren't keeping score. She just knew in her mind that she was losing match after match. It wasn't a complete loss, though. The pointers You was giving her were helpful, and she wanted to make sure she could get them down and memorized. If she did that, than You would probably let her know she did a good job. That sounded good to her.

Just like last practice, they finished up after an hour. Yoshiko figured that You would head off to the cafeteria, and she would head back to her dorm in order to contemplate her own existence and why it led her to fall for someone way out of her league. As it turned out, You wasn't going to eat just yet.

"That was quite a workout, don't you think? I need a shower." Oh, so she was going to shower before eating, then. Okay, so that was giving Yoshiko images that she really shouldn't be thinking of. "Hey, I'm gonna get lunch at the cafeteria after that. You wanna join me?" Now her brain was having trouble thinking at all. Did You just invite her on a lunch date? Or at least a lunch... rendezvous? This couldn't be happening. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but she was lucid enough to know that'd look rather silly.

"Yeah! Uh, yeah, that'd be great. I haven't really eaten much today." If a poptart counted as breakfast, then she had breakfast. That was it, though. She was only now realizing that she was running on fumes. "So when should I meet you at the cafeteria?"

"Oh, I won't be that long. I just wanna clean off before heading to the cafeteria." She walked over to the benches, grabbing a blue duffel bag resting on the ground. Curious, Yoshiko followed her. "Why don't you just come with me? It'll be easier to just shower and head to the cafeteria from there."

"Ok- Wait. You want me to come with you? To... To the showers?" It was starting to hit Yoshiko just what You was asking her. She could feel her face heating up, and it wasn't all because of the sun. It couldn't have been meant in a dirty way, but... she had just asked Yoshiko to come with her to the showers! Where she would be naked! Like, really naked. Completely bereft with the cloth that constrains mankind to this day! Wait, she was doing it again. Oh, who cares? This was defcon two at the very least!

"Yeah. It'd be easier to just go there, then off to the cafeteria. Unless your place is closer?" You tilted her head to the side, seemingly confused about Yoshiko's dilemma. Did she not understand what she was asking? No, she had to... Right? "I just assumed you lived farther out because you came to the courts from the opposite side."

"Yeah, I... Alright, we can... go." Yoshiko gulped, trying her best not to look like a blushing mess. If You truly didn't understand the ramifications of what she was requesting, then Yoshiko certainly couldn't make it obvious that she was thinking in a completely different direction. She'd seem like a complete perv, which she wasn't! Well, she wasn't trying to be, anyway.

"Alright!" You was back to smiling again, picking up her stuff and heading for the exit. "Let's go!" Yoshiko followed after her sheepishly, staring at the back of You's head as they walked the short distance to the school's gym. Attached to the gym were the showers, and she really hoped that there was no one else there. If there was, it would make an already worrisome situation even worse.

Thankfully, her worries were unfounded. The gym and the showers were both vacant, something that neither of them mentioned aloud. Once they were in the locker room, You placed her duffel bag and tennis racket on a bench next to the shower. There was a wall that shielded the area from view, though only if you were sitting on the bench. As long as she didn't get the urge to lean around the wall, she'd avoid any heart malfunctions.

Without a word of warning, You grabbed the bottom of her shirt and started to pull it over her head. Yoshiko's eyes nearly popped out of her skull as she swirled around 180 degrees, somehow not falling flat on her face. Of course she wanted to give in to her natural instincts and stare at You shirtless. It was more enticing to her than a release date for Bayonetta 3. She knew how it would look, though. You would be weirded out by the obvious sexual pleasure she would derive from it, and then that would spread amongst the rest of the tennis team. She'd be known as a deviant! That couldn't happen.

"Water! Gotta get water!" She stammered out as she stiffly walked towards a water fountain that was attached to the end of the wall. No matter how difficult it was, she couldn't turn around. Not under any circumstances. She just needed water. A lot of water.

"Alright, well don't go anywhere, alright? I need you to watch my bag while I shower." Okay, that was something she could do. There wasn't any problems watching a bag that contained You's underwear- Wait, that was a problem right there. She was starting to understand why she was single.

"Okay!" She said that while still trying to drink, and water splattered everywhere. She could hear You laugh, and she strongly considered drowning herself. Though she tried to dilly-dally, her body could only handle so much water. She let go of the dispensing button and stood up straight, sure that enough time had passed for her to turn around. Everything was gonna be alright. So she turned around to start walking back to the bench, just in time to get a full view of You's naked backside before she disappeared behind the wall.

Her hand instantly went over her heart, feeling it pumping against her chest. This was really happening. Was this... Was this an athlete thing? Did they just parade around without clothes on in the locker room and not care about how that might be perceived? If she became a full part of the tennis team, would she be expected to do that too? Hoo boy, this wasn't what she signed up for.

It took a minute for her brain to start sending signals back down to her legs, allowing her to shuffle her way back to the bench and sit down next to You's bag. She clasped her hands together and laid them in her lap, staring at the lockers with a blush on her face. Staring at lockers wasn't the epitome of interesting, so naturally her eyes started to wander. She did her best to remain pure, but the fallen angel inside herself pulled her towards the duffel bag. Specifically, the clothes on top of the bag.

She didn't even have to touch anything to see what she wanted, but shouldn't be looking at. You's bra and panties were laying on top of her shirt, like they were there just to taunt her. They both were colored baby blue, with the panties having small white polka dots all over it. Against her better judgement, she picked up the underwear and held it up in front of her face, wanting to see what kind they were. It was only kind of disappointing to find out that they were just regular, run-of-the-mill panties.

She'd already seen beyond that realm, though. Not on purpose, but it'd happened. She'd just happened to turn around at the most perfect yet imperfect time imaginable. It'd been just a glimpse, but it was enough to get her thoughts racing. Her thoughts were swarmed with every curve and muscle from You's backside, particularly her cute, perky-looking butt. What she'd give to touch it...

"Stop it, Yoshiko!" She whispered angrily to herself, dropping You's panties and forcing herself to look back at the lockers. There was no reason for her to act like this. She was a university student, dammit. This was where she was supposed to mature. High school hadn't prepared her to be sitting with her crush naked on the other side of a wall, though. She wasn't sure if she was extremely lucky or unlucky. Maybe both.

Keeping herself from doing anything perverse was boring work, so she ended up spending a couple minutes on her phone. That was all she got though. When You said she was going to take a quick shower, she meant it. She heard the sound of wet feet on the floor before You said anything, and her automatic reaction was to look up. You was standing there with a towel wrapped around her body, water dripping from her hair as she smiled at Yoshiko.

"I'm just gonna dry off real quick, and then we can head to the cafeteria. Hope you're not too bored!" She laughed, and Yoshiko faked a laugh as well, too shocked and slightly embarrassed at the sight of You in a towel to properly respond. You then went back behind the wall, assuredly to finish drying off, and Yoshiko was left with her embarrassment and her dilemmas.

If she leaned around the wall, she would be able to see You in all her naked glory. There was a good chance that You was facing that very direction, though. She'd be caught instantly, and she'd have no explanation besides the truth. A truth which could never be spoken. That was too big a risk. She went back to looking at her phone, but it was difficult for her to concentrate on what she was looking at. Her feet were tapping against the floor in a discordant rhythm, loud enough that she was sure You could hear it. So she lifted her feet up off the ground to avoid giving them that opportunity.

After another minute passed, she realized that once You was dry, she'd come out and get her clothes to get dressed again. Which meant she would still be naked. Unless she wrapped the towel around herself again, but she didn't know how much she could rely on that chance. Her grip on her phone tightened as she determinedly stared at the screen, trying to seem like she was paying attention to it and not anything else. It was really, really... really hard.

Another minute and a half passed before You came out again, which Yoshiko could tell by her footsteps. She absolutely was not looking that way, no sirree bob. Realizing that she probably looked like she was about to pop a blood vessel with how hard she was concentrating on her phone, she tried to relax her expression. Hearing You laugh again, she had a feeling it didn't work. Or that she just looked stupid regardless.

Surreptitiously she looked up from her phone, failing to stop herself from getting a quick, sideways glance at You. All she saw before she averted her eyes was her stomach: not enough to get any muscular details, but enough to know that she was still naked. Her heart was going to explode and blow her ribcage apart, she was sure of it. This was not something she was made to survive.

"You ready to go?" She looked up from her phone to find You completely dressed, her bag slung over her shoulder. Her racket wasn't in view, though she suspected it was in the bag as well. You must've gotten re-dressed while she was losing her mind in concentration.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah." She stood up and grabbed her racket, feeling like the truth of what she had seen was written all over her body. As they walked out of the locker room, she remembered something else: the tennis racket. She had brought it just in case she ended up seeing You. "Uh, You? I've still got your racket." She held it up, offering it to You. You just smiled and shook her head.

"I think you should keep it for a bit longer. You're playing better with it, aren't you?" Yoshiko gulped, thinking about how she mostly used her own racket to avoid breaking this one. She didn't want to admit that, though.

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks." You smiled at her, and she smiled back shyly. She was going to have to start using You's racket to avoid any further lying. She silently prayed to all the demons in the Underworld to keep the racket safe in her unlucky hands.

* * *

Sitting in the cafeteria, Yoshiko laid her chin on her palm and sighed. Her eyes were not on her food, but on a certain gorgeous tennis captain eating and laughing with friends a few tables away. It had been complete happenstance: she'd run out of food and had to go to the cafeteria that day, and who did she see there but You "Wimbledon Wonder" Watanabe getting food at the front of the line. Despite the fact that they'd had multiple conversations at this point, she still felt unworthy to even be considered a 'friend' of You's, so she tried to minimize her presence as much as possible so that You wouldn't notice her.

Instead of attempting to further cultivate a potential friendship that she'd want to turn into something more, she sat alone and watched from afar. Just her and a meager amount of food she no longer had the appetite to eat anyway. She was concentrating so hard on staring at You's table, and You in particular, that the sound of a tray slamming against her own table made her jump.

"Hey, mind if I sit here?" Yoshiko just gawked at the orange-haired girl standing there, at a loss for words. The girl grinned and sat down without waiting for a reply. "Thanks! There weren't any other seats left."

"Huh? But there's-" She glanced around the cafeteria, noticing at least five empty tables. "What?"

"I'm Chika. Nice to meet ya!" She stuck out her hand, and Yoshiko just stared at it like an idiot. "It's a handshake. You're supposed to grab my hand with yours and-"

"I know what a handshake is!" Yoshiko grumbled and grabbed Chika's hand, shaking it a bit harder than she needed to. She was caught off guard, so she thought she deserved some slack. "Have we met before? Are you in one of my classes or something?" If she was, Yoshiko certainly wasn't acting like a good classmate right now.

"Nope! Just wanted to sit here." Smiling, Chika grabbed an orange from her tray and started to peel it. This entire situation just baffled Yoshiko. "So, you're staring at the tennis team, huh? You like athletic girls or something?"

"What? No! I mean... no, I... I don't. That's private! What are you even asking that for?!" Yoshiko knew that she was blushing, but it was hard not to with such invasive questioning like that. What was this girl's deal?

"Because you're so blatantly staring at Watanabe over there." Chika smirked when Yoshiko didn't have a response to that. "You like her, huh? Why don't you go ask her out, then? I hear she's pretty nice."

"Are you crazy?! I couldn't do that!" She realized what she said as soon as the words finished coming out of her mouth. "Uh... Not like I'd do that anyway. I'm not talking about this to a complete stranger anyway. It's too embarrassing- private. I mean, it's too private." Dammit.

"Hey, you know my name, so I'm just a partial stranger." Chika laughed, clearly not being serious. "Besides, isn't it best to divulge with a stranger anyway? You'd never see me again. It's such a big university, anyway." Somehow this explanation seemed both sensible and nonsensical. Yoshiko really didn't get this girl. "Besides, it's not like I'd tell Watanabe your deep, undying love for her."

"There is no deep, undying love!" Yoshiko whispered sharply, sputtering as she glared at Chika. "It's... It's just a crush, okay? It's not a big deal. And before you say anything, no, I'm not going to tell her. There's no point."

"Why not?"

"Because... Because it doesn't matter." Sighing, Yoshiko slumped back in her seat and shrugged. "You see her over there, right? She's pretty awesome. That's not me. I'm not really 'relationship material' or whatever. It wouldn't work out."

"You don't know that until you try."

"You sound like my guidance counselor." Yoshiko rolled her eyes and stared down at her tray. She pushed it away, really not feeling up to eating now. "It's just not going to work out, 'kay? Trust me. I think I know me a little bit more than you do." She stood up and pushed her chair in. "I'm going home. Uh, it was nice to meet you, Chika. I guess."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Chika grinned and gave Yoshiko a two-fingered salute. "Oh, hey, are you gonna eat the rest of your food?"

"No. Knock yourself out." Yoshiko then turned and started to walk out of the cafeteria. Accidentally - and on purpose occasionally - running into You wasn't doing her any good. She was just wasting her time.

"Not until I eat this food first!" Chika called back, grabbing the mashed potatoes Yoshiko had on her plate and starting to chow down on them. With Yoshiko's back turned to her, she didn't see Chika looking over at You with a scheming look in her eyes."Oh Yoshiko... You may know yourself more than I do, but I think I know You a bit more than you do..."

* * *

That night, Yoshiko was in her room streaming when she heard a knock on the door. "The hell?" She looked at her own door, as if disbelieving what she was hearing. After a few seconds of silence, she was sure she had just been hearing things, but less than a minute later, there was the distinct sound of knocking again. "Ugh... I shall be back, my lovely minions." Waving to the camera, she paused her stream and stood up to answer the door.

The knocking continued. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" As she got closer to the door, she swore she heard someone saying "So quickly?" outside. She looked through the peephole and let out a sharp gasp: it was You! What in the world was she doing there?! How did she even know where she lived? Yoshiko had about three mini heart attacks in the span of ten seconds. She couldn't leave You waiting out there: not after she'd already given away that she was home.

"You, hi! What a... What a surprise!" Yoshiko opened the door and stared at You, who looked just as dashing as ever. She didn't see her out of her tennis outfit much, so it was a nice treat to see her wearing something different. Even if it was as simple as a t-shirt and jeans. She made that look work wonders. "I... didn't know you knew where I lived."

"That's a bit of a story." You laughed, a hint of nervousness on her face. "Mind if I come inside?" Not having any good reason to say no, and not actually wanting to say no, Yoshiko moved aside and let You in. "Thanks." They both went over to the couch, sitting down side by side. Yoshiko expected You to quickly dive right into what she was there for, but she was surprisingly silent for a bit.

"Uh, is there... anything I can get you? You want a drink or something?" She wasn't used to being the host. People weren't exactly clamoring to hang out with her back in grade school. She was pretty sure this was one of those 'good hospitality' things a host was supposed to do.

"Nah, I'm good, I'm good." You sat up straight and took a deep breath before locking eyes with Yoshiko. "The truth is, I know where you live because one of my friends... well, stalked you home. I didn't tell them to do it, though!" She put her hands up in the air, as if trying to defend herself from any accusations. "Chika sometimes just does things without thinking about them."

"Chika?" Yoshiko paled, her hands starting to shake. It couldn't be... No, it had to be a different girl that was also named Chika. But why would some random girl who happened to be named Chika stalk her? She wasn't sure if this was going to lead to her getting laid or laid six feet under. "With, uh... with short orange hair?"

"Yup. I know she talked to you in the cafeteria, even though I told her not to." The back half of that sentence was muttered, but Yoshiko was able to hear it. "So I know I need to explain that, and... You know, it's funny, really. Embarrassing, but funny." It was embarrassing for You? That seemed highly improbable. "The truth is, I think you're really cute. I've thought that ever since I helped you out at that first practice. I didn't want to say anything because it just felt weird, ya know? I'm the captain of the team, and I was worried that if we ended up getting together, then the others would accuse me of favoritism."

"You..." Yoshiko tilted her head down, raising both of her eyebrows up as high as she was physically allowed to. "Wait, let's back this up. You think I'm... cute? You do? Me?!" This was so far out of left field, it must've circled all the way 'round into right. She was absolutely flabbergasted. There was no way she could possibly believe that someone like You thought she was cute. It clearly was some kind of error. She must've mixed her up with another girl who just happened to look like her. Like a twin. Boshiko.

"Sure do." You grinned, not really looking all that embarrassed or nervous at all. That really seemed crazy to Yoshiko, who imagined telling someone they were cute out of the blue would cause her to spontaneously combust. "Chika's been on my case telling me to ask you out for weeks now, but I was worried about the whole favoritism deal. Guess she took things into her own hands, though." You laughed, and Yoshiko understood just what 'taking it into her own hands' meant.

"Chika told you I had feelings for you, didn't she?"

"Right again. Well, she told me you said you had a crush on me, but that it was obvious that it was something more. She'd been telling me that for awhile now, but I was never too sure. I couldn't really tell whether or not you had any interest in me. Not to the same degree I did, anyway. I mean, I did catch you staring at my ass, but... you're not the only one I catch doing that." Yoshiko immediately went bright red with embarrassment. Damn her obviousness. "I tried a couple of things to see how interested you were in me, but I still wasn't sure. Honestly, I thought you'd stare more when I went to take a shower."

"You did that on purpose?" So she wasn't innocent in that regard. She wasn't sure how to feel about that, honestly. "I, uh... just thought that was something athletes did."

"Well... Kind of. But no, not that time." You laughed again, but this time Yoshiko noticed a tinge of red on her cheeks. "Chika told me that you liked me too, but that you'd never ask me yourself because you were too scared. Her words, not mine!" She made sure to add that bit. "So yeah, I'll go ahead and ask, then." She put a hand on the back of the couch and faced Yoshiko. "Will you-"

"Yeah!"

"You're supposed to let me finish."

"Uh, sorry..." Yoshiko shut her mouth and gripped her knees tightly.

"Kidding, kidding." You chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. "For real, though, will you got out with me?"

"Again, yeah. Yes." She almost pinched herself then, but she stopped herself again. This was no time to be acting weird. She'd just been asked out by You! And she'd said yes! This actually made that purchase of a tennis racket worth it. "I'm... I'm not sure what to do now. I never thought I'd get this far."

"Well, I think I'd better go thank Chika. Might punch her in the arm too, but I'll definitely thank her." You moved her hand from the couch to Yoshiko's shoulder, leaning in and surprising her with a quick kiss on the lips. She then pulled away, smiling warmly. "I'll see you at tennis practice tomorrow, okay?" Yoshiko just nodded dumbly, watching as You stood up and went to leave. With one last meaningful look, she opened the door and disappeared into the night.

Yoshiko kept sitting on her couch with a dazed look on her face. It took over a minute for her to finally get up and go lock her door, which she then leaned against and slid down to the floor with a hand over her heart. That kiss had been so quick, but it made her heart feel like it'd been uncaged. Extraordinary... And You mentioning that they'd see each other at practice tomorrow? That felt like it had more meaning. Like... they'd actually plan out a date! And maybe even exchange phone numbers.

It was then that she remembered her stream. She still had it paused in her room. Hurrying back, she started it back up and waited until her loyal followers began to return. "To my little demons: I apologize for the delay. But something hellacious happened this night! A powerful human has fallen into the intoxicating embrace of this fallen angel!" Just because she stopped herself from acting like this in public didn't mean she couldn't still roll with it during her streams. Hopefully You would never see any of this...


End file.
